Stray
by TheDepraved
Summary: An abnormal white cat, suitably named after the famous Nyanmaru for his exploits in helping other kitties, leads his caretaker through a freezing cold and stormy night to yet another stray in need. Only this time, the stray is human. Yuuki/OC Warning: Will contain yaoi content. Rating may change in the future!
1. Follow that cat!

**A/N: (means 'Author's Note' for those'a you who don't know.) I've only just recently stumbled across Code: Breaker, but from episode 2 this story idea has been running in circles around my brain in the form of Yuuki cosplaying as Nyanmaru chasing his tail, and it's demanding to be set free. And so, I shall release it to the public! To start, my OC's grande introduction!**

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Barely six months had past since Tatsuma left the orphanage where he grew up, but already he had made a decent life for himself. He had immediately found a job washing dishes at a failing restaurant, until the main chef quit two months after Tatsuma's arrival, and his natural cooking instinct and mysterious time altering abilities, or his "excellent time management skills" as he so claimed to hide the nature of his abilities, had miraculously saved the business and turned it around to make it one of the most popular restaurants in town. In fact they had made so much profit within the four months that Tatsuma had taken over the cooking that the owners made the agreement to close the restaurant for a few weeks for a long overdue remodel. To Tatsuma's delight they had even decided to raise the ceiling height in the kitchen to better accommodate their miracle working chef, who stood about six foot four (198 cm.) Six hard months of busting his butt, and finally his efforts were bearing fruit. But what would he do while the restaurant was closed..?

Tatsuma sighed as he came to the door of his tiny apartment after his last day of work for the month, with a bag of leftover fish scraps in one hand and his key in the other; the next few weeks would be an adjustment, for him and for his friends. "Nyan-kun," Tatsuma called out as he opened the door, and as he found no one there to greet him he gave the bag a quick shake in hopes of catching some attention, "Nyanmaru-kun?" Receiving no response he closed the door behind him, and with a yawn lazily stretched his arms to the ceiling. "I'm sure he'll come home sooner or later..." he muttered to himself, and found the vibrant break of silence distasteful. Again Tatsuma sighed, and clicked on the television for the sake of noise before walking across the room into the kitchen.

The room was small, consisting of a lone oversized couch, though the couch was a perfect size for it's owner, and a small lowsitting table that was definitely _not_ a good fit for it's owner. There was little to the walls as well, aside from the three doors: one leading to the outside on the east wall, another to the bathroom and one to the closet on the north wall with a fireplace between the doors and the aforementioned TV mounted over the fireplace, and the west wall opened itself freely to the decently sized kitchen in the back.

The kitchen was the main reason Tatsuma had chosen to make this place his home, if not his only reason; it had everything that the kitchen at the orphanage had, an oven with a ranged top and a refrigerator with a freezer and plenty of counter and cabinet space, and stashed in the back corner was a washer and dryer for clothes as well, which to him was a luxury. Overall his home wasn't much, even lacking a proper bedroom, but for Tatsuma it was more than enough. After traversing the kitchen to stash the bag of scraps in the fridge, Tatsuma returned to his small living/bed room and plopped down onto the couch with his bright green eyes set on the TV which was displaying the local weather report, and for the third time since he got home, sighed.

"Looks like a storm is going to hit soon," he spoke out loud to no one and turned his gaze towards the cat-sized mini-door to the outside, "I hope Nyan-kun comes back before then; he hates the rain..." With an uneasy exhale, the fourth sigh, Tatsuma's eyes dropped to the floor at his feet, shrouding his vision with a bronze haze from his shoulder-length hair. It wasn't uncommon for Nyanmaru to run off, in fact he often ventured out and came back home with a few hungry strays which is how he had earned his name in the first place, but today Tatsuma was feeling oddly... lonely. Perhaps it was the thought of being off work for a few weeks that had thrown him off? Or maybe it was because today was the six month marker since he left the orphanage? Whatever the reasoning, it was a dismal feeling, and the dreary forecast of rain wasn't making it any better.

Tired of the television, and of smelling like a delicious seven course meal after work, Tatsuma rose from the couch and walked over to the closet where he removed one of his two clean shirts and a fresh pair of pants before going into the bathroom for a much needed bath. No sooner than the bath was drawn and his clothes stripped off did he hear the first clap of thunder, but rather than sighing for the fifth time Tatsuma slipped further into the water until it came just to his nose and closed his eyes. The day had been cold, as most winter days are, and the night coming home had been even colder. A hot bath was just what he needed to shake off the melancholy of the day, and though he wasted no time washing his exhausted body he was in no hurry to leave the soothing waters, eventually even dozing off as the rain started to pour. The storm did nothing to wake him, but after a half-hour catnap a certain noise finally managed to draw him from his peaceful sleep.

"Mreow!" It was a frustrated meow from the other side of the door, coupled with a barrage of claws scratching against the wood as the pure white kitty frantically pawed at it.

"Nyan-kun!" Tatsuma awoke with a jump, and with no regards to the splashing water he quickly rose from the bath and opened the door, fearful that his feline friend may have been in some sort of trouble. The cat, however, was perfectly fine aside from being soaking wet, but there was obviously some sort of trouble since he immediately scampered to the doorway and left in a hurry. "Nyanmaru-kun?" Tatsuma's head tilted just a little, but for Nyanmaru to venture outside during a storm there had to be a good reason. He got dressed in a hurry, black pants and a dark blue shirt with a heavy black trenchcoat to fend off the cold rain, and with an umbrella in hand he ventured to the outside, finding no trace of his furry white companion. For Tatsuma such a thing was no trouble at all, and by his will alone time stood still.

The world around him was coated in a grey-scale as even the rain ceased to move, seemingly floating in midair, but here and there small bursts of color would be seen - the aura of life. Every living creature held its own aura, from the smallest of insects to humankind and even silly kitties who run off in a hurry before their caretaker can get dressed. At first there was no sign of any cats, but even this was an obstacle Tatsuma could easily overcome; Nyanmaru had been with him for months now, and Tatsuma had become familiar enough with his aura to see lingering traces of it if he focused enough, allowing him to track the kitty down with little trouble. Soon enough little golden pawprints lit up the sidewalk for Tatsuma to follow, every step taken parting the frozen drops of rain as the contact released them from his hold on time.

It took a few minutes - or it would have had time been moving - for Tatsuma to catch up to his feline companion, who was poised mid-sprint with a determined look in his feline features. Finally Tatsuma freed the flow of time, and as the kitty continued on his venture at top speed Tatsuma found himself running behind to keep up. Countless times Nyanmaru had done this, but tonight he seemed to run twice as fast as usual; whatever trouble Nyanmaru had come across this time it had to be something big.

A few more minutes passed before the cat made a sharp turn into a darkened ally, and as Tatsuma rounded the corner he saw that Nyanmaru had finally stopped and was now laying on the ground next to something. For a moment Tatsuma couldn't believe what his eyes relayed; curled up beside Nyanmaru was an unconscious and soaking wet young male, perhaps four or five years younger than Tatsuma himself who had recently turned 19. "So this is why you were in such a hurry..." Tatsuma said solemnly and patted the cat on the head, "Thank you, Nyan-kun." Tatsuma set the umbrella aside and reached over to the young boy, gently shaking him to see if he would awaken. Lavender eyes shot open the instant Tatsuma touched him, and the moment after he was thrown backwards into the alley wall as the boy yelped. "O-ow..." Tatsuma groaned in pain, the unexpected impact increased by the icy cold chill in the air, but he had little time to dwell on the fact.

As his senses regained themselves he realized that the boy had attempted to run, but was heading straight for the ground just a few steps away. Time froze as Tatsuma responded instinctively, and he forced himself to rise despite the twinge of pain. "He's stronger than he looks," he commented as he walked closer and found himself wondering how someone of such small stature had managed to send him flying, especially since he looked to be in lacking condition: viewed in full color with a surrounding aura of red against the gray it was easy to tell that he was soaked to the bone and probably near freezing, and covered in mud and obviously unable to run since he was currently locked in place mid-collapse. "Poor guy..." Tatsuma muttered as he set himself into position, kneeling down just where the boy was falling with his arms outstretched and ready to catch him, and once again he restarted the flow of time - but this perhaps wasn't the best of ideas.

Just as before the boy responded by crying out when he realized he had been caught and was being held, sending forth vibrant red soundwaves that forced Tatsuma back and onto the ground. This time the boy stood, rather than trying to flee, and in a defiant stance ready to fight he glared at the one who disturbed him. Slowly, Tatsuma sat up, now just as muddied as the boy but meeting his glare with a gentle, though pained, smile, "So that's how you managed to knock me back... Interesting." The boy responded by readying his next attack, since the other had managed to get up again, but before he could deliver the blow a flash of white caught his eye. "Nyanmaru-kun?" Tatsuma looked down as he felt wet fur brush across his hand, "Ah, you must be cold huh?"

The boy's eyes widened as he heard the name and his guard lowered, and with piqued curiosity he watched as the other lifted the pure white kitty and tucked him into his shirt. "Nyanmaru..?" the boy spoke, his voice surprisingly soft and his lavender eyes seemingly sparkling.

"Nyanmaru," Tatsuma affirmed, and pointed to the cat's head that was poking out from the top of his shirt, "He's the one who led me to you... But this is the first time he's taken me to someone who isn't a cat."

The boy hesitantly took a step closer, again repeating the name, "Nyanmaru."

Tatsuma tilted his head to the side as he watched the boy's actions curiously. "Cute..." he unintentionally proclaimed out loud, but luckily it was too soft to be heard over the rain and thunder. "You can come pet him if you like," Tatsuma said with a smile, "Mind you he's covered in rain and mud, but then again so are we."

The boy darted back rather than moving closer, but due to the slick ground and his own state of weakness it sent him falling backwards with a sharp outcry of "Wha!?"

Tatsuma halted time once again, and seeing the look on the boy's frozen face he couldn't help but laugh, "Cute indeed, but a little skittish." Carefully Tatsuma rose and made sure Nyanmaru was securely fit in his shirt, "He seems reluctant to trust me, but I can't just leave him out here like this... Any ideas, Nyan-kun?" The cat meowed in response and ducked down out of sight, as if saying he hadn't any ideas either. "Guess I should've expected that," Tatsuma chuckled, and once again positioned himself to catch the boy, "But you may want to hop onto my shoulder before I catch him again." Nyanmaru huffed defiantly in reply and shirked around to the back of his shirt, sending a chill down Tatsuma's spine from the freezing wet fur. "C-cold," he shivered, but the cold was probably the reason why the kitty refused to come out of his warm shirt. Once the cat stilled, Tatsuma released his hold on time again to catch the boy before he could hit the ground, and he prepared himself for an expected struggle.

But there was no struggle, only a soft murmur and a few small twitches. _"I'm so... tired..."_ the boy thought as his body refused to move. He couldn't even stand on his own, leaving all of his weight for the other male to bare. _"What's going to happen to me now..?"_

"H-hey!" Tatsuma grew worried as the boy fell limp in his arms and he knelt down on the ground to get a look at the boy's face. He seemed barely conscious, and his face was red from struggling and probably from a fever as well. Carefully Tatsuma shook off his trenchcoat and wrapped it around the boy.

"_So warm."_ The boy stared up at Tatsuma's deep green eyes, and he meekly asked, "Who are you? What do you intend to do to me?"

Tatsuma was a bit startled to hear such direct questions, but considering the circumstances they were valid questions to ask. "Tatsuma," he answered, "And whether you want me to or not, I intend to help you."

"Why?"

Tatsuma blinked a few times as the next question repeated itself in his mind, and for a moment he didn't know how to respond. Why would he follow a once-stray cat out into a stormy night to take home a small, weathered down boy that he had never even seen before? "Umm... well..." he stalled, before coming up with a decent enough answer and smiling down at him, "Because I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I just turned away from you now; I'm not that type of person. So please... at least for tonight, let me shelter you."

The boy was bewildered. Here was this complete stranger who had only wanted to help him, a stranger who he had attacked repeatedly and tried to drive away only to fail. The guy had kept him from harm, given up his warm coat, was shielding him from the rain, and now he was practically begging to take him home. "O-okay."

Tatsuma smiled as he heard the answer, and was relieved that the boy would no longer fight him. "Thank you," he said softly and reached over to the umbrella. Carefully Tatsuma rose, with the boy held in his arms and the umbrella set in his hand to shield him from as much of the rain as possible, and with Nyanmaru still safely tucked away in his shirt.

The boy's dumbfounded gaze never left Tatsuma's face as he was carried through the dark and stormy streets, and though he was still wary of this abnormal stranger he couldn't help but feel safe. Anything would be better than freezing to death in a dark alley all alone, but he wondered what 'anything' may be in this situation. There was no telling where he was being taken to, or what would happen to him there, but at this point he was too weak to be able to fight back if anything went awry; he would have to trust himself to someone he had never met...

Tatsuma had tried to ignore the fact that he was being stared at, but the boy's lavender eyes were too alluring. "You keep staring at me," Tatsuma stated plainly and glanced down with a smile, "Are you alright-" His question halted short as he realized that he had yet to learn the boy's name, and with a blush tinting his cheeks he added, "I'm sorry, I can't remember if you've told me your name yet."

The boy set his gaze away, a hint of shame in his tone as he gave his answer, "Tenpouin Yuuki."

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**A/N: (this one means 'After Note') So, there we go! I wasn't expecting to pack so much into the first chapter, but... eh, I couldn't stop myself any sooner. That said I'll probably have the next chapter done in about a week depending on how things play out... Kaen'ta! (this is just my way of saying 'goodbye')**


	2. Creep!

**A/N: Already more views than I had dared to hope for and even a review? *grins* I feel so loved. And because of that love, I'm going to work twice as fast!**

****later updated thanks to florreco! Thanks again :D****

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Tenpuoin Yuuki... a cute name to match a cute face, or so Tatsuma thought. But why was he even thinking this? _"I'm starting to feel like some sort of creep,"_ Tatsuma fretted as he reviewed his current situation. For the past ten minutes he had been trudging back home through an ever worsening thunderstorm with a younger - possibly **too **young - boy nestled in his arms and huddling against him for warmth as icy cold wind and rain whipped at them both, and the primary thing going through Tatsuma's mind was that the boy was cute.

Well, perhaps it wasn't the primary thing since he was also focused on getting them all to the warm safety of his home, but still the cuteness factor seemed too close a second for comfort. The discomfort wasn't that he felt this sort of attraction to the boy, since Tatsuma had already realized his 'preference' was skewed after sharing rooms with multiple boys at the orphanage through his adolescent years, it was the sheer magnitude of this newfound attraction! He hadn't known of the boy's existence until fifteen minutes ago, and already Tatsuma had an uncontrollable need to... To what, exactly? Tatsuma's face went a few shades paler as he identified the nature of his attraction. It wasn't too far off from the way he felt about taking in stray cats: a drive to protect, to nurture, and generally love and care for... until they decided to venture back to the great outdoors, at least.

"_But he's a boy, not a cat!"_ Tatsuma scolded himself while trying his absolute best to hide the traces of distress on his face, just in case the subject of his thoughts happened to look up again and notice. At least his thoughts weren't of a more... evil nature, such as- _"No! I can't let myself think about that..."_ Tatsuma forced his thoughts aside as a dark chill ran down his back, and his grip around the umbrella handle tightened until his knuckles turned white. Prodding at the suppressed darkenned memories of his past was not something he wanted to do. _"Focus... focus..."_ his mind repeated as he searched for something else, anything else, on which he could set his thoughts on.

A quiet sound, a simple shiver faintly heard over the rolling thunder and splattered drops of rainfall, caught Tatsuma's attention, and he lowered his gaze to the boy in his arms. Yuuki was clinging tightly to the oversized trenchcoat, shaking as puffs of white escaped his dry, cracking lips. "We're almost there, Yuuki," Tatsuma said softly, attempting to disguise the worry in his tone and holding the boy closer to his chest. "Nyan-kun, care to help out? You should be plenty warm by now." Suddenly Tatsuma laughed and squirmed, though not enough so to potentially drop everything he was carrying, "H-hey, Nyanmaru, that tickles!"

"Mrerr," the cat huffed his response as he climbed his way over Tatsuma's shoulder and out of his shirt. How else could he have gotten out other than using his caretaker as a ladder? Silly human. With dextrous ease the kitty leaned down and nudged a loose sleeve of the trenchcoat, and within seconds disappeared within. Nyanmaru found it strangely fun to wriggle his way through the tube of fabric, and soon enough he had made it through to the inside of the large coat. The cat sat down on his new perch - the boy's chest - and though it was much colder and wetter than his previous location the cat started to purr.

"Nyanmaru..." Yuuki spoke, quietly, and shifted his arms to hold onto the warm ball of fur. To him, it almost **was** Nyanmaru; after all the cat had come to his rescue, with Tatsuma's aid of course, and now the kitty was even keeping him warm. "Nyanmaru..." he repeated, almost forgetting the piercing cold that was ravaging his body, "Nyanmaru!" A rough feline tongue ran over the boy's neck, causing a sudden rise in his temperature as a blush hit his cheeks, "N-nyanmaru?"

"We're here." Tatsuma was relieved to finally say those words - though the tone of Yuuki's final 'Nyanmaru' had left him a little curious as to what was going on, but there was no time to worry about that. Tatsuma opened the door with ease since it hadn't been locked or even properly closed due to his hasty departure, and he immediately seemed to set himself a mental checklist on all that needed to be done: both the boy and himself needed to change out of their soaking wet clothes, Nyanmaru needed to be dried off and fed, the fire needed to be rekindled, the blankets needed to be quickly warmed in the dryer, and he needed to make some hot tea and something to eat. Gently Tatsuma set Yuuki down and walked straight to the closet door, but to a moment's dismay he recalled that he only had one clean shirt left. The moment passed quickly, however, as he removed the shirt and a clean pair of drawstring pants and held them out towards the boy. "Bathroom is over there," Tatsuma stated with his free hand pointing to the other door, "They may be a bit big on you, but they're clean and they're dry."

Yuuki was almost reluctant to put down the kitty - who was still curled up in his arms beneath the thoroughly wet trenchcoat - but the idea of fresh clothing was alluring enough to make up for it. He thought to say 'thank you' as he reached out and took the clothes in his numbed hands, but for some reason he couldn't manage to speak a word. The boy's eyes lowered as he mustered up a small nod, and with his gaze still downset he disappeared behind the bathroom door.

Tatsuma couldn't determine whether Yuuki was shy or possibly even scared - a thought which troubled him - but under these circumstances either one was fairly normal. He ran his hand through his drenched bronze hair as he paused the passing of time. _"I hope I don't scare him or anything..."_ Tatsuma sighed and removed the layers of his waterlogged clothes, knowing that he was perfectly safe from being accidently seen thanks to his useful ability.

It was cold, and though he had all the time in the world to spare he hurried to redress himself with his remaining pair of pants. The rest of his body would just have to deal with the cold, since to him it was far more important for the Yuuki to warm up than it was for himself, but as he looked down at his bare, lightly-toned torso another moment of dismay passed. He would now be stuck shirtless, in the presence of a young boy, a young boy who he had found irresistibly cute, who he had just met and brought home in the middle of a freezing cold and stormy night, like some sort of creep.

"_Waaah, this is horrible! He's already acting nervous enough around me and now __**this**__!? I'm practically naked!"_ Tatsuma was nearly in panic at this point, and the exaggerations his mind was coming up with certainly weren't helping. (Practically naked? People wear less clothing when they're out swimming.) _"Maybe he won't mind? I mean I really don't have much of a choice at this point..." _Though still worried Tatsuma snapped his thoughts back into focus, and went back over his mental checklist where one word stood out to him above all others.

Towel.

He still needed a towel to dry off Nyanmaru... and towels, like in most homes, were kept in the bathroom...where Yuuki was currently changing... A slight blush coated Tatsuma's face at the thought of someone - no, at the thought of Yuuki - changing in his bathroom, _"No, no, no! Stop being such a creep, Tatsu!"_ Again Tatsuma was scolding himself, but at least he was blushing about it rather than getting ideas. "Fire," he stated to himself plainly, as if giving himself the order to quite standing around and move on to a task he could currently complete, "Right."

Color returned to the world around him as time was freed from his hold, and Tatsuma went straight to work on reviving the fire. It took less time than he had expected, and the moment that the fireplace lit up a flash of white streaked across the room towards it. "You must be about starving by now, Nyan-kun," Tatsuma smiled as the kitty curled up near the fire, "I'll bring you some food." With a new goal in mind Tatsuma set off, stopping again at the closet to grab both of his blankets before walking across the room into the back corner of the kitchen.

"If only my shirts were dryer friendly," he mumbled quietly to himself as he tossed the blankets into the aforementioned dryer and set it to stay on for thirty minutes. Tatsuma then took a few steps back and set his entire focus on the dryer, mentally forming a box around it. Slowly, he started increasing the flow of time within the region and sent the dryer and its contents through a rapid cycle. With five minutes remaining on the dryer's cycle Tatsuma was satisfied, and slowed the time in the region to normal. For just a moment he smirked, proud that his abilities could be used for something so practical, but still there was much more for him to do... such as preparing dinner and feeding Nyanmaru.

Cooking had always been one of Tatsuma's passions, and though he had planned to do nothing for dinner tonight he was glad that his plans had changed. _"I have no idea what he would want to eat..." _he thought to himself as he browsed the kitchen for food, _"But considering how little I have in stock at the moment I guess it doesn't matter. I'll make up for it tomorrow by letting him pick a few things out at the store." _Tea to drink, riceballs for appetizers, udon noodles for the main course, and chichi dango for a sweet desert, surely that would suffice. Using his skills as a chef rather than pausing time Tatsuma quickly finished the preparations for their meal, and moved on to take care of Nyanmaru's.

The kitty's ears twitched the moment he heard the bag of fish scraps being pulled from the fridge, but rather than going to the food like usual Nyanmaru decided to simply wait for the food to be brought to him. After all, he was still cold, and though he had cleaned the mud from his fur he was still soaking wet, and it was so warm and cozy by the fire. Surely food could wait for just a little while. The cat stretched out on the raised platform of the fireplace and yawned; he could definitely wait for food.

"Well, don't you look comfortable, Nyan-kun," Tatsuma commented as he walked back into the main room with the plate of food in his hand. The cat responded only by swishing his tail in the air, but as the plate was set down in front of his nose he thanked his caretaker with a lick to his hand. "Enjoy, Nyanmaru-kun," Tatsuma said with a smile and patted the kitty's head, "You've earned a good meal." With that, Tatsuma was going to return to the kitchen to finish work on dinner, but again a small noise caught his attention.

It had already been a few minutes since Yuuki had gone into the bathroom, but he had barely managed to get anything done. His hands were cold, and his fingers were completely numb; he had struggled to get his jacket off, struggled even more to get his shirt off, his shoes had been easy enough since he never tied them, but his socks were annoying and he found his feet were just as numb as his hands, unbuttoning his pants had taken an entire minute, and even his boxers had given him some trouble to remove. But now, after going through so much just to get the soaked clothes **off**, he was having even more trouble getting the dry clothes **on**. The shirt had buttons going all the way up, which refused to be buttoned, and since he didn't like tieing things to begin with, the drawstring for the pants had been conjumbled into a nightmarish knot and **still **the pants were sliding off of his hips to his knees. Frustrated, Yuuki had groaned, and shortly after that a knock came to the door.

"Is everything alright, Yuuki-kun?" Tatsuma asked nervously from the other side.

"_Yuuki... kun?"_ The boy's cheeks were tinged with a shade of pink; it was strange to be called as such already. Then again it was strange to be putting on someone else's clothes, and it was embarrassing to think that he was having trouble with something as simple as getting dressed. Still, that was the situation he currently found himself in: stuck in a stranger's bathroom with nothing but illfitting pants sitting around his ankles and an unbuttoned shirt falling off his shoulders. "I can't feel my hands... and the buttons are being mean," Yuuki answered shyly, practically pouting as he looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror.

Hearing the reply Tatsuma swallowed uneasily. Yuuki needed to be warmed up, quickly, and the first step was getting clothes on him, but if he couldn't manage it himself..? He could either stay cold and get sick or worse, or someone would have to lend the boy a hand; there was only one acceptable option. "Do you... need some help?"

It was by far the strangest thing that Tatsuma had ever asked anyone._"I am such a creep!"_ he had immediately regretted saying it, finding it horribly wrong to even **think** about going into that room! But at this point it was too late; the question had already been asked, and if Yuuki wasn't afraid before there was no doubt he would be terrified after hearing that. What kind of pervert would suggest such a thing? The poor boy is probably going to be too scared to leave the room, fearing that if he does he'll be- _"No, no, no, NO!"_ His mind refused to go there.

Tatsuma knew that he could never do such a thing, to anyone, especially not someone like Yuuki. All he intended to do was help the boy get dressed so he could come out of the bathroom and be wrapped up in a warm blanket and given a hot meal, so **why** did he keep thinking he was doing something wrong?

It had been silent for nearly a minute, but finally Yuuki gave his answer to the question, "... yeah. But you have to promise not to look, okay?"

Tatsuma's forehead fell against the door and his shoulders slumped as those final words struck him to the core. _"He does think I'm a creep."_ It had to be so -why else would the boy have so innocently told him to **promise** not to look? "I swear, Yuuki-kun," Tatsuma replied, his voice deathly serious, "I will not look." With little warning the lock was unlatched and the door was opened, leaving Tatsuma - who had been leaning against the door in distress - to fall straight forward. _"O-oh no!" _Tatsuma put an immediate halt on time, but due to the nature of his abilities it was of no use; he was still falling forward, and whatever - or in this case, whoever - he came into contact with would become immune to the time-altering effect.

"!?" Yuuki was renderred speechless as Tatsuma fell onto him, and the difference in their size caused Yuuki to fall back onto the floor - with a half naked guy embracing him while he himself was practically naked.

In a last-second move before impact Tatsuma had placed one of his hands at the back of Yuuki's head and wrapped his other arm around his back, intending to cushion the fall for the unsuspecting boy, but also leaving him in a very awkward position. "Yuuki!" Tatsuma's face was a deep red from embarassment, and he hurriedly tore himself away from the boy and turned around, sitting on the floor with his back facing the other as he stammerred an apology, "I-I'm so sorry Yuuki-kun... U-um... Are you alright?"

Still lying on his back with his gaze set at the ceiling, Yuuki's eyes widenned, "Everything's grey... I'm... I'm colorblind!"

"Mm?" At frst Tatsuma didn't understand, since he had grown accustomed to the greyscaled world of frozen time, but as the realization clicked he sighed in relief. "It's okay, Yuuki-kun," he said calmly and released time, "I had tried to stop everything, b-before I fell on you but I was too late... You aren't hurt though, are you?"

As the color returned to the ceiling - and all else around it - Yuuki sat up and briefly inspected himself. "I think I'm fine..." he answered, "But I still can't feel my fingers..."

_"That's right!"_ Tatsuma had nearly forgotten the reason he had gone into the room in the first place and, keeping his eyes closed just in case, he turned around with a gentle smile on his face. "Let's get you dressed so you can curl up on the couch with a warm blanket, 'kay?"

"Mmkay."

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**A/N: I could not stop snickering around the sixth paragraph... I simply couldn't. And the snickering continued on all through this chapter!**

**I must say I've taken quite a liking to my OC in this one - he's turned much less "cool" than I had originally planned, but the random moments of spazzdom and excessive worry make him seem more... harmless. And harmless is good.**


	3. Nyanmaru and Kagemaru!

**A/N: THREE more reviews? I'm so happy I could die! But I won't - if I were to do that there would be no more updates. And many apologies for the slow update this time around - holidays and other story ideas took over. But, a couple'a weeks isn't too bad I don't think. They are decently lengthed chapters. Right? I mean I could do shorter with more updates if my readers so desired... ^^**

**Moving on!**

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It was an awkward situation that Yuuki found himself in, one that he could never have expected to happen over the span of his entire life, but at least Tatsuma was keeping his eyes closed. Slowly Yuuki rose from the floor and affixed the loose-fitting pants around his waist, and for a while he wondered what would be the best way to even do this. Having to face Tatsuma while he tied the strings would be embarrassing, and even worse would be the position Tatsuma would have to be in to do it. Blushing darkly as he shook away the thought of someone else kneeling in front of him, he turned around and faced his back to the other male. "You can open your eyes now..." Yuuki nearly whispered.

With his eyes open Tatsuma stood up, and as soon as he stepped closer to Yuuki he too realized that he would have to kneel down in order to tie the pants, _"Why must I be so tall..?" _Even kneeling down he was just a few inches off from being eye-level with Yuuki's shoulderblades, which - in the current situation - wasn't really a bad thing. Tatsuma held his breath as he maneuvered his arms around the boy's waist, his fingertips just barely touching the hem of the pants in line with the drawstring and finally taking hold of them. It was a simple task, like tieing something as easy as a shoelace, but for some reason it was one of the most nerve-racking things Tatsuma had ever done. With every single movement he was worried that he may accidently brush against something, and even without the use of his abilities, the task seemed to take hours to complete. "All done," Tatsuma proclaimed after the few seconds he had spent tieing the drawstring.

It had been much easier than Yuuki expected, though the first part when the Tatsuma's fingers trailed over his hips had made him blush - again. Already he felt just a little warmer, but there were still the buttons on the shirt that needed to be done; with his borrowed pants now safely secured, Yuuki turned around to face Tatsuma, who would now be eye-level with the middle of his bare torso.

Tatsuma quickly lowered his gaze to the floor. After all he had sworn that he wouldn't look, and though a male's chest region is considered far less 'private' than a woman's, it was still the kind of thing that happened to catch Tatsuma's interest, and thus, he would not - could not - take advantage of the situation and look. Carefully he reached his hands up to the collar of the shirt to the first button, and got to work.

Yuuki watched as one by one Tatsuma fastened of the buttons that had given him so much trouble before. It was weird to have someone take care of him so attentively, but weird in a sort-of nice way. Even with all of the buttons done the shirt barely managed to stay on his shoulders, but it was far better than his own muddy, soaking wet clothes. "Thank you..." Yuuki said softly, barely speaking the words.

"You're welcome, Yuuki-kun," Tatsuma replied happily, glancing up at the boy with a subtle smile before rising to his feet once more. By simply reaching over Yuuki's head Tatsuma removed the two clean towels from the bathroom rack and set them both onto his shoulder, then -without paying much attention to what all he was grabbing - he picked up the muddied clothes from the floor and hung them up in the towels' place. "Now let's get you set up on the couch, alright? And I'll put your clothes in the wash after dinner."

Yuuki nodded in response and followed as Tatsuma left the bathroom, and just about fell face-first onto the couch the moment he was close enough. Yuuki was tired... not really sleepy, just tired... and hungry... and thirsty... and cold... but so far, at least, it seemed he was safe. With half-lidded eyes he watched as Tatsuma continued through the room into the kitchen - the very delicious smelling kitchen - and a faint smile spread across his face. It didn't just seem like he was safe, he actually **felt** safe, which had become increasingly rare for him.

With a warmed blanket in his hands and the towels still draped over his bare shoulder, Tatsuma returned to find the boy smiling - even if it was just a small one. "I hope the couch is comfortable enough, Yuuki-kun?" he asked curiously; no one other than himself had lain down on the couch so far... well, himself and the occasional cat, but they don't often voice their opinions.

Yuuki had hardly taken notice of Tatsuma's return until he spoke, and with a sharp jolt he sat up. Words failed him as he once again nodded to respond, but at least this time he managed a small "Mm," to go with it - not much of a 'voiced' opinion, but still more than the cats.

"Good," Tatsuma replied with a smile as he walked over and unfolded the blanket, gingerly wrapping it around Yuuki before taking a seat next to him. There was just one more major thing he had to take care of...

"_Warm..."_ Yuuki felt like he had melted into the blanket. Almost immediately he had closed his eyes and brought his arms and legs in closer to his center, and since Tatsuma had taken care to make sure he was fully covered from his ice-nipped nose to his still-numb toes Yuuki was instantly comfortable. But the sudden sensation of something else being draped over him quickly caught his attention, and his eyes opened to see one of the towels from earlier, that was now sitting over his head. Yuuki was well aware that his hair was still cold and wet, probably even a bit muddy, but moving his arms outside of the warm blanket was the last thing he wanted to do at this point; he was tempted to protest, but before he could work up the nerve - if he ever could have to begin with - that too was being taken care of by Tatsuma.

For Tatsuma, this was a far less awkward occurrence than everything else had been; several times he'd had to towel-dry Nyanmaru, just as he would be doing once this task was complete, and often in such instances Nyanmaru wasn't alone. The only true difference this time is that the other stray in need of a towel-dry was human.

Though it was a bit strange at first, Yuuki quickly came to enjoy the sensation, and Tatsuma's attention to detail didn't go unnoticed. He had dried off Yuuki's dark red hair in portions, checking over the strands on occasion to make sure he had cleared out the bits of mud and being extremely careful not to pull on his hair. It was oddly relaxing, and adding that to the warmth of the blanket and comfort of the couch it was almost enough to put Yuuki to sleep.

Once Tatsuma removed the towel he noticed that Yuuki's had closed his eyes and slumped down more, but as he combed his fingers through Yuuki's hair to fix it those bright lavender eyes opened wide. Yuuki looked so innocent as he stared up at Tatsuma, and as Tatsuma caught his eye he abruptly stopped, blushing darkly as he removed his hands as if he had been doing something inappropriate. "S-sorry about that," Tatsuma stammered, "I left your hair a mess and wanted to fix it."

Yuuki didn't respond, and instead he simply closed his eyes and leaned back against the couch with a quiet yawn. Now that he was no longer ice-cold or soaking wet he realized just how tired he really was. Worrying over someone touching his hair would be a waste of precious energy. In fact at this point the only thing that could possibly be keeping Yuuki awake was the smell of food.

In silence Tatsuma had risen from the couch and walked over to the fireplace where Nyanmaru had stretched out. Already the kitty had finished his meal, but his fur was still much too damp for comfort. "Your turn, Nyan-kun," Tatsuma whispered as he sat down Nyanmaru's side and placed the remaining dry towel over his lap. Two pats of his hand against his knee, and the cat readily climbed onto his lap.

It was strangely reminiscent of Nyanmaru's first night there... Though Tatsuma didn't know the whole story for himself, Nyanmaru could recall every detail. His first caretaker was a small child, one who just happened to take in the stray kitten without her parents' permission. Her family life was tragic, with an abusive alcoholic father and a mother so beaten and worn down that she had long given up the will to fight. To the girl, Nyanmaru - or 'Whiskers' as he was called in those days - was the only source of happiness. But eventually, after half a year of being well-hidden, the girl had vanished, taken in by child welfare and given a much better home. As for Nyanmaru, he was left behind... The girl's father was the one to find him, an adolescent cat roaming the entire house for his missing caretaker. What happened next to poor kitty was horrid; the man threw him into a nearby river, where the raging current swept him away.

It was a stroke of luck, or maybe some strange sort of kitty-fate, that Tatsuma had been nearby. Without even thinking he had plunged into the waters to save the poor cat, and though the cat responded with a barrage of scratches and persistent struggling he brought it to his new home. Tatsuma had to bait Nyanmaru with food before being allowed to dry him, and still the kitty was far from cooperative, but Tatsuma didn't mind in the least - the cat needed him, it was as simple as that. Nyanmaru kept a distance from him for the rest of the night, mostly following him around the house and watching him, and no matter how many times Tatsuma tried to coax him over the cat refused. It wasn't until Tatsuma had fallen to sleep that the cat finally came closer, slowly inching across the room until jumping onto the couch and curling up at his side.

Such a strange start of an unusual friendship...

Once Tatsuma had finished drying Nyanmaru off he patted the kitty's head and placed him back on his spot from before. All that was left for him to do was finish making dinner... and hang the towels to dry for now. Quietly Tatsuma rose from the floor and walked back into the bathroom, and thoughtlessly hung the towels over one of the racks. It was then that he noticed something he had missed just minutes earlier, something that made his entire face turn red. Hanging over the second rack was a pair of bright pink boxers with little white Nyanmaru's scattered everywhere. Instantly he covered his mouth - lest he make a noise in shock - and after a quick check over his shoulder to make sure Yuuki's eyes were still closed Tatsuma backed out of the bathroom and darted into the kitchen.

A curious furry ear twitched as Nyanmaru witnessed his caretaker's frantic dash across the room, and though he was quite cozy where he was he just couldn't let it go. The kitty shifted up and stalked over to the bathroom, keeping his shoulders back and his belly to the floor just in case there really was something there. As he reached the corner his tail eagerly swished behind him, but as he peeked over the corner to see the bathroom devoid of anything sinister, Nyanmaru huffed. Humans. He would never truly understand them. The kitty made a sharp turn and sat down, his back to the door and his body facing his pervious spot. It was such a perfect spot - the fire made the stone base of the fireplace so warm, and there was plenty of room to stretch out - but there was another spot now optional. The kitty turned his head and eyed the patch of couch just in front of Yuuki, who was now laying down with his body curled. Warm cozy fire? Warm cozy human? Nyanmaru blinked as he went over his options, but soon enough the answer was clear and was on the move - towards the couch. With an agile leap he landed in the unoccupied zone, his landing so soft and quiet that the boy failed to take notice. After pawing around on the couch just a bit the kitty lied down, plopping against Yuuki and quietly purring.

Yuuki's lavender eyes finally opened, and though he had never fully gotten to sleep it took him a moment to readjust to being aware. Tatsuma had vanished from sight but he could hear movement in the kitchen, and there was something warm against his chest that was rumbling... "Nyanmaru..?" Too tired to shift and see for himself, Yuuki called out to the kitty instead, and after doing so he felt the source of warmth move just a bit, affirming that it was, most likely, Nyanmaru. With a content sigh Yuuki snuggled against the cat, and he smiled when he could literally feel the cat's purr. "Thank you, Nyanmaru," he said softly. It was almost surreal, being able to thank his hero - or a least the closest thing to his hero that's possible. Nyanmaru real-cat and Nyanmaru TV-cat had a lot in common after all both were kitties, both were white, both were named Nyanmaru, and both were heroes.

Now if only it would be this easy to thank Tatsuma... A blush crept over Yuuki's face at the thought of everything Tatsuma had done for him, and still Yuuki could barely manage to respond to him. It was strange... a simple 'thank you' had never been so hard for him before so why couldn't he just come out and say it to him? _"I guess... saying 'thank you' just isn't enough. No one's ever really done so much for me before... at least not in a few years..." _

True enough Yuuki had gained a decent amount of friends as of late - or at least as close to friends as they could be given a Code: Breaker's lifestyle. He didn't really call any of them by name either... Come to think of it, he hadn't even said Tatsuma's name either, or come up with a nickname for him. Perhaps that's part of the reason it was so hard just to talk to him? Yuuki probed his mind for a suitable nickname, but only one managed to come to mind, _"Kagemaru..."_

* * *

**A/N: I'm starting to better understand Tatsuma the more I write this. He's like... a natural caregiver, the kind of person who would rather suffer himself than see someone else suffer - which he has in the past but I'm not yet ready to reveal that. So much more plot to go through... Tatsu's gotta lotta skeletons in his closet - and they ain't Halloween decorations!**


	4. Home!

**A/N: SO! MANY! REVIEWS! AND FOLLOWS! I can honestly say I stopped breathing for just a moment when I saw all of the FF email alerts. And so... DOUBLE TIME! I'm dropping EVERYTHING for the next two nights!**

**A thousand thank-you's to all my reviewers and story followers and a hundred to the rest of you dear, dear readers!**

* * *

Being safely back in his kitchen was a great relief to Tatsuma - after all there were no bright pink Nyanmaru boxers to be seen in the kitchen. His cheeks were still reddened after seeing such a sight, but the more he focused on cooking the less prominent the image became. Cooking was the one thing Tatsuma could always rely on to clear his mind, be it of sad thoughts or dark memories or something stressful, or bright pink Nyanmaru boxers that belong to an incredibly cute young boy who is now curled up on his couch.

His only couch... In his tiny home that has no bedroom... A dreamlike haze overcame Tatsuma as he envisioned the both of them cuddled up on the couch together, snuggly wrapped in the blankets and peacefully sleeping in each others' arms. _"B-bad thoughts, bad thoughts!"_ he forced the daydream away and returned his focus to his cooking, chopping away at the remaining ingredients for the main dish: leaks, mushrooms, and carrots. _"I'll sleep on the floor... and everything will be fine... I can't entertain these crazy ideas that keep popping into my head - I just have to ignore them..."_

But it'd be so cute if you got him to smile at you, Tatsu...

"_Ignore..."_

But he's so shy and adorable, just a little peck on the cheek..?

"_Ignore..."_

He'll be sleeping on your couch all night long..!

"_Ignore..!"_

He's already wearing your clothes, Tatsuma!

"_Ignore..!"_

... Yuuki in bright pink Nyanmaru boxers.

"_Ignore!"_

Tatsuma was internally yelling at his own wayward thoughts, and had started to reflect in his chopping - the poor vegetables were practically minced! But at least he had finally taken control of his brain. He breathed in deep to calm himself and leaned back against the kitchen counter - though for his height, leaning on it was practically sitting on it. _"What's wrong with me tonight..? I don't know the first thing about Yuuki and yet..."_ Tatsuma's internal monologue paused as he lifted his eyes to the ceiling, deep in thought as he tried to identify the source of his rampant emotions, _"And yet... he seems so familiar to me..."_

Tatsuma racked his brain, searching for any potential reason for this strange sensation while adding the poor slaughtered vegetables to the noodles, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't recall even seeing Yuuki before - or anyone like him. Only once before had something similar happened, when Tatsuma simply walked past someone who immediately gave him a feeling of intense hatred. _"So strange... But I shouldn't dwell on it any longer; I'm sure Yuuki is starving by now... Maybe even literally." _

With his final thought spurring him into action, Tatsuma added the remaining ingredients to the pot, and picked up an already-made tray of appetizers: hot tea, rice balls, and (what was **supposed** to be desert) chichi dango. He had no idea how long Yuuki had been out on his own like that, or where he had come from to begin with and how he even managed to land himself in such a situation; for all Tatsuma knew it could have been days since he last had a good meal. Tatsuma hurriedly brought the tray out of the kitchen, but the moment he stepped through into the living area he halted, taking in an unexpected sight. "Well don't you two look cute," he commented with a gentle laugh as he found Nyanmaru and Yuuki curled up together on the couch. _"Lucky cat..."_

Yuuki's eyes fluttered open when he heard Tatsuma's voice, and a subtle blush hit his cheeks as he was so directly called cute. "Kagemaru..." he said quietly as Tatsuma approached with what appeared to be a tray of food.

"_Kagemaru..?" _For just a moment Tatsuma was confused. He knew already who Kagemaru was, being a fan of the Nyanmaru series himself after watching it so much with the younger orphans, but why was Yuuki saying it? He shrugged the question aside and set the tray of food down, then dropped down onto the other side of the couch. "Are you feeling any better, Yuuki-kun?" Tatsuma asked with concern.

"Mm," Yuuki answered with a nod as he sat upright, but for once he managed to continue, "I'm not shaking anymore, but my fingers are still pretty numb..."

Tatsuma smiled at the boy's more confident response, but the answer raised an interesting question. "Think you'll be able to hold your food alright?"

Yuuki hadn't even given it any thought until Tatsuma asked, and after uncovering his hands from the mass of blankets he looked down at his fingers with saddened eyes. He was hungry, near starving, but as he poked his hands in various places he soon realized that he still couldn't feel and his hands were still shaking - if only a little. "I... I don't think I can..." Yuuki replied, his voice sounding so forlorn it was heartwrenching.

"Yuuki-kun..." Tatsuma spoke gently and reached over to the nearest rice ball, then slowly held it towards Yuuki, "Let me help." A few times before Tatsuma had come across strays who were too weak to eat; from orphaned kittens to wounded and old adult cats, Tatsuma would do anything and everything from using tiny millimeter droppers of milk to making fish puree and feeding it through a straw. Holding someone's rice ball was a small task in comparison.

With hunger in his eyes Yuuki stared at the rice ball in Tatsuma's hand, but the idea of eating from the aforementioned appendage was... odd. Eating out of someone else's hand? Like some sort of animal..? His lavender eyes slowly rose to meet Tatsuma's, searching for some sign of twisted malice or sadistic pleasure but only finding genuine care and concern in his brilliant emerald orbs.

Tatsuma could sense the boy's unease, and using his other hand he carefully moved Yuuki's chilled, smaller hands around his own, essentially allowing Yuuki to hold the hand that was holding the rice ball. "Will that make it easier, Yuuki-kun?" he asked with a hopeful smile.

In a strange way it did make Yuuki feel more comfortable with the idea - or maybe it was the warmth of Tatsuma's hand and the way he smiled? Still it wasn't comfort enough to stop Yuuki from blushing as he brought Tatsuma's hand closer to his face, but as he first bit down into the warm rice ball Yuuki completely stopped caring. "It's... delicious..!" Yuuki practically exclaimed, and with a renewed vitality sparking in his eyes he turned his gaze back to Tatsuma, "Kagemaru, did you really make these yourself..?"

"_Kagemaru..?" _For the second time it had left Tatsuma confused, but seeing as he was the only one here, and the one who Yuuki was looking at, and the one who had indeed made the rice balls, it all quickly clicked, _"I'm Kagemaru..?" _Tatsuma suddenly felt like he was Nyanmaru's - his feline companion Nyanmaru - sidekick, but he somewhat guessed that it was the use of such a nickname that had raised Yuuki's confidence. "Um... yeah, I did," Tatsuma replied after just a few seconds of dumbfounded silence, "I work as a chef at a restaurant now, but cooking has always come natural to me."

"Mumffamumm." Yuuki had made an attempt at a reply, but his mouth was far too full after taking in the whole rice ball to manage anything more than a muffled mumble. He had also fully disregarded - or possibly forgotten - the fact that his rice ball had been sitting in Tatsuma's hand rather than his own completely numb one, and immediately after he had downed the entire thing he began licking the remains of rice off of the fingers.

**Tatsuma's** fingers. Tatsuma's entire face turned red and every last muscle in his body tensed, and for a few seconds he was in such a state of disbelief that he couldn't even breath. "... um... Yu-uki-kun?" he finally managed to speak, though his voice managed to crack in the middle of saying the other male's name, "You know there's plenty more, right? You, er... you don't have to lick my fingers."

For Yuuki it was almost like being abruptly stirred from a daze; the only difference was that most people who find themselves in a daze do not snap out of it to find that they had been sucking on someone else's fingers. He nearly fell backwards - much to Nyanmaru's surprise when his comfortable pillow had so sharply moved - but luckily the arm of the couch caught him. Eating out of the palm of someone else's hand had been an awkward event all it's own, even though he had gotten past it, but this? How could he even **begin** to explain himself? Words failed him, action failed him; Yuuki was at a total loss of what he could possibly do to make this right.

Though still obviously blushing Tatsuma leaned over and grabbed two more rice balls - one for himself, and one for Yuuki. As before he held his hand out towards Yuuki, and with a gentle chuckle he gave him a brief bit of advice, "Try not to eat this one so fast, alright Yuuki-kun? And once you're done you should probably drink some tea, too."

The last thing Yuuki had expected was that the whole ordeal would be so nonchalantly put aside, but he was grateful for it. He shifted back to his prior seat, and on his own terms he cupped his hands around Tatsuma's much larger one. _"So warm... I think the numbness is finally going away..." _It was a much-needed realization, and with his nerves now settled he eased Tatsuma's hand closer to - bite by bite - eat his second rice ball.

Tatsuma smiled to himself as he bit into his own meal, and despite starting late he had actually finished his rice ball before Yuuki. He hadn't expected his suggestion to be followed to such an extent, but he figured it may possibly be a result of how embarrassed Yuuki had been before. It was then that the few questions once again popped into Tatsuma's mind... where Yuuki came from, why he was out there, if he had a place to even call 'home.' It was quickly becoming too hard not to ask, since everything had settled down. "Yuuki-kun?" Tatsuma could no longer hold back his curiosity, "You don't have to answer me but... why were you out in the rain like that?"

Yuuki halted mid-bite, and almost reluctantly backed away from the delicious rice ball and lowered his hands. It was a reasonable question for Tatsuma to ask, of course, but being a Code: Breaker required a high level of secrecy; Yuuki couldn't just detail the chaos of his daily life and all of the battles he had faced - already it was astounding enough that Tatsuma had insisted on bringing him home after witnessing how dangerous his abilities were. "I got lost," Yuuki answered. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the complete truth either.

"Lost as in, you can't find your way home?" Tatsuma responded, a little perplexed at the simplicity of the answer.

"I wouldn't call it home, but yes."

The follow-up answer was much more enlightening, and instinctively Tatsuma placed his free hand on Yuuki's shoulder. "Yuuki-kun," he said gently with a deeply concerned look, "did you run away?"

Yuuki nearly jumped - not from the touch, but from Tatsuma's correct assumption. He couldn't face Tatsuma, and after turning his head and shielding his eyes with his dark red bangs he nodded, "I did at first, but now I can't find my way back..."

"Do you want to go back?" Tatsuma asked, his question completely honest and his tone remaining compassionate.

It was unexpected. Rather than scolding him and telling him to 'grow up' like so many others had Tatsuma was making an effort to understand him. Yuuki turned his head, just enough to see Tatsuma from the corner of his eye, and gave an honest answer to the honest question. "I don't know..."

"I see... The orphanage I grew up in would often take in people like you for a while if they needed a place to stay," Tatsuma remarked, but before he could finish Yuuki interrupted.

"I'm not going to an orphanage."

"Hm?" Tatsuma was momentarily lost, but as it clicked he couldn't help but laugh, "No, I wasn't suggesting that, Yuuki-kun, I was going to suggest that... well, if you wanted, you could stay here for a while. I know it isn't much... and we would have to go out and get you some more clothes to wear, but..." Tatsuma's voice trailed off - there was no way that anyone would accept such an offer out of the blue like that! _"Hey I know we just met tonight and I'm probably a few years older than you and already find you irresistibly adorable but I've already dressed you and fed you by hand and I'm even running around shirtless so why don't you live with me for a while! Real intelligent, Tatsu... Yuuki definitely won't think you're a creep after that!"_ Tatsuma scolded himself, **harshly**.

Unnoticed by Tatsuma, Yuuki had turned to stare at him intently with large, bright eyes. "You mean it, Kagemaru?" Yuuki asked in disbelief, "I can stay here with you and Nyanmaru?"

Tatsuma was snapped out of his thoughts immediately by the boy's enthusiasm, and with his own disbelief in his tone he answered, "Yeah... i-if you want."

Yuuki's face was alight with a smile - though still smaller than the average smile, it was a pretty big one for Yuuki - and he happily scooped Nyanmaru into his arms and gently held onto the unsuspecting kitty. "Did you hear that, Nyanmaru? Kagemaru said I can stay for a while!"

"Nyan!" Nyanmaru replied and nuzzled against Yuuki's cheek.

"_Lucky cat..."_ Tatsuma couldn't help but think for the second time, but even so, seeing a smile on Yuuki's face was enough to make Tatsuma happy. "I guess it's settled then," Tatsuma beamed, "You can stay here as long as you like."

* * *

**A/N: I have strayed just a bit from my initial plotline... At first Yuuki was going to be genuinely lost, and Tatsuma was going to try helping him find his way back. Now, Yuuki is showing some teenaged rebellion amidst everything and doesn't want to go back quite yet! But how long will he be able to stay..? I need to tweak the plotline! And strangely, this works to my advantage for the far-off twist of darkness I have planned for the future... *grins evilly then comes up with a distraction***

**Once again, a special thanks to my reviewers and story followers/favoriters! The always-name-changing first reviewer! Death-Sama01 and Mellon who have reviewed multiple times! (Mellon, I wish I could thank you privately as well but you don't seem to have an account so an extra thanks to you!) Yeyu! florreco! sbbchslns (who has just barely made the cut for my special list of public thank you's with a last-second review!) "Guest" who is also without an account (and deserves an extra thank you!) and Darkness Incarnated! All of you have driven me to work my very hardest on this story and for that, I thank you! The encouragement means far more than is fathomable!**


	5. Staring!

**A/N: Alright, took a bit for this update. I've been busy babysitting my four-year-old cousin... Princesses, Max and Ruby, Barbie, and pink do not mix nicely with my love of violence, torture, zombies, skeletons, demons, weaponry, chains, and big scary dragons... I think my shirt - the Grim Reaper standing around piles of skulls with his hand reaching out as if saying 'You're next...' - and the picture I was drawing - Vulture, my anorexic OC from my Deadman Wonderland story - terrified the poor child. Yet despite all of that she adores me and HAS to involve me in EVERY SINGLE girly thing she wants to do...**

**The days spent babysitting filled me with far too much 'cute' to be able to focus on this story without getting a highly disturbed twitch from the sadistic part of my mind... At one point after five hours of extreme girliness and annoying childrens' tv shows (DEATH TO DORA THE EXPLORER! OR AT LEAST SOME BLASTED DUCT TAPE SO SHE DOESN'T REPEAT EVERYTHING SIX BLOODY TIMES IN A BLASTED ROW!) it was getting very hard to play nice. The four-year-old was telling me I HAD to color the Barbie picture with her instead of the Halloween bat picture I had found and nearly fallen in love with... I was going to color him brown with orangey tints on the tips of his ears and on his chest, and name him Chestnut. My little cousin, however, decided one of his wings should be horribly scribbled black, and one of his feet should be scribbled gray, his teeth should be pink, and his chin should be blue... (The ONLY thing REMOTELY close to appealing to me, ALL DAY, and out of SPITE I was denied it!) She killed Chestnut, and on the inside I was actually fuming because I knew she did this on purpose - her crayon work was extra sloppy and she had the 'teehee I'm being bad' face - because I had stopped coloring the stupid Barbie picture... So, in order to keep my inner sadist happy and keep myself from a psychotic breakdown, I've had to work on my other, extremely violent, story. (And I mean VIOLENT! Recently Vulture had most of his fingernails ripped off with pliers, and then eventually the remaining fingernails were stabbed through with a scalpel and forcibly pried off! Best thing I've ever written!)**

**... Little more insight on me in this rant of an author's note... Sorry it's been so long, but as shown above I had my reasons. I've always had to maintain a sort of inner balance to keep myself sane, and watching over "Short and Cute" as my cousin is often titled, has been making it extremely difficult. Ah, the things my family doesn't know...**

**But - finally - moving on.**

* * *

'As long as you like.'

It was far more than Yuuki could have ever hoped for, and, though he knew it was only a matter of time before Eden would have him tracked down, he was happy to hear it. _"Happy..."_ Yuuki considered the word deeply for a moment, with his bright lavender eyes staring at the fluffy white kitty he was holding. Happiness was such a rare and fleeting thing for him these days; the feeling was almost strange, foreign, and he had to truly analyze it to make sure it was something real. A warm shelter had given him comfort, food was sustaining him, he had a real-life Nyanmaru right in front of him, and _"Kagemaru..." _None of this would have happened without Tatsuma - it was his home, his cooking, and... was Nyanmaru really **his** cat? Considering how Tatsuma treated Nyanmaru it didn't seem likely that he saw the cat as his possession... But then, what were they..?

Tatsuma watched with piqued interest as Yuuki seemed to be lost in thought. Though the boy's eyes were set on Nyanmaru, the slight changes in his expression proved to be oddly intriguing - lips twitching from small frowns to small smiles, eyebrows furrowed or lifted, and a few times Tatsuma was sure his nose even twitched. It was impossible to tell what he may be thinking about, but no matter the expression Yuuki still seemed... happy. With a subtle smile Tatsuma excused himself - his words falling on the deaf ears of his pensive guest - and after setting down the forgotten rice ball he returned to the kitchen to finish preparing the main course.

All the while, two wide yellow-green eyes were looking back at Yuuki's - Nyanmaru's eyes. It was practically a staring contest, and Nyanmaru wasn't fond of losing. It seemed countless minutes had passed since the other stray had started the staring, and even though he was making all sorts of faces Nyanmaru refused to lose his concentration. And so the kitty continued to stare... and stare... and stare... Just as Yuuki continued to stare... and stare... and stare...

It was a little bit eerie as Tatsuma walked back into the main room - the dreadfully silent main room - to find that no one had moved even an inch. For just a moment he had thought that maybe, just maybe, he had unintentionally paused time, but the color in the room quickly demolished the thought. They had both just... frozen. "Nyan-kun? Yuuki-kun? " Tatsuma called their names out to break the silence, and hopefully snap them out of whatever trance they had fallen into.

Nyanmaru's tail twitched, marking that he had heard his caretaker's voice, but he kept the rest of his body perfectly still as Yuuki held him.

"Mm?" Yuuki blinked and turned his eyes to see Tatsuma standing in the archway into the kitchen with a large serving platter, and instantly noticed the perplexed look on his face, "You okay, Kagemaru?"

Nyanmaru had claimed victory, and with the staring contest completed he squirmed free and returned to his previous spot by the fireplace, quietly purring to himself. Nyanmaru had never lost a staring contest, no matter how many strays had tried.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tatsuma answered as he set everything down: two empty bowls, the entire pot of udon, utensils, and a lovely display of optional ingredients and extras- sauces, spices, the tea, and the remaining half-eaten rice ball and dango - all neatly organized on a large serving tray. "How are your hands, Yuuki-kun?" Tatsuma asked curiously, "After holding mine and then holding Nyanmaru they must be warmed by now, right?"

"_After holding his..."_ Yuuki's thoughts repeated as a warm blush crept across his face. True enough, in a way he had held Tatsuma's hand... and then licked it... and then held it again... and he had noticed how warm Tatsuma's hand was... and soft... Quickly Yuuki pushed the thoughts back, and both to hide his blush and to find the answer he set his gaze down, poking his fingers together to test the numbness. To his surprise, he could actually feel them again, and with a small smile he turned back to Tatsuma and nodded.

Tatsuma returned the boy's smile, "I'm glad... I was starting to get worried."

In silence Yuuki watched as Tatsuma filled both of the bowls with food, once again finding himself in a very thoughtful state of mind. As most things had been tonight it was a little strange to hear someone say they were worried about him, especially over something as minor as the feeling in his hands. "Hey, Kagemaru..." Yuuki spoke out, his voice a little louder and more confident than usual but his gaze set intently on the display of food, "Thank you... For everything, I mean."

The amount of sincerity in the boy's voice was almost shocking, but very... heartwarming? _"No, it's stronger than that; my heart felt like it was fluttering..." _Tatsuma smiled as he held one of the steaming bowls of udon towards Yuuki, but as the boy reached out to take it Tatsuma sneakily slipped a hand onto his, holding it for just long enough to draw Yuuki's attention. "You don't have to keep thanking me, Yuuki-kun," Tatsuma replied softly, "As long as you're happy that's more than enough for me, alright?"

A deep red blush quickly spread over Yuuki's cheeks, hot enough that he could actually feel the intensity, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't look away - his eyes were locked with Tatsuma's, staring deeply into his emerald-green eyes. "O-okay," he finally managed to whisper back with an unfamiliar amount of shyness in his tone.

The look on Yuuki's face was remarkably cute, and once again Tatsuma was finding the boy hard to resist - **too** hard to resist. He couldn't take his eyes off of him, and for a while they were both sitting there in silence, staring at each other. It almost felt like Tatsuma was fighting some sort of invisible gravity that was trying its hardest to pull him closer to Yuuki, but he refused to budge, _"I'm __**not **__going to just lean over and kiss him! I can't!"_

Lucky for both males, the silence was sharply interrupted as a loud crack of thunder sounded off overhead, powerful enough to shake the windows and calling both of their attentions away from each other.

"Sounds like the storm is getting worse..." Tatsuma remarked, taking advantage of the interruption. _"That was close,"_ he inwardly sighed in relief as he filled the second bowl for himself, _"I had almost given in..."_

The moment the thunder had caused the break in eye contact Yuuki busied himself with his meal, trying his very best to bury his earlier feelings under a mountain of udon. His heart had skipped a beat the moment Tatsuma touched his hand, but afterwards, staring into his eyes while he said such sweet words in that gentle tone? Yuuki's heart was racing, and for some reason he had wanted to set the bowl down and just jump on him! It was almost the way he felt about seeing Nyanmaru - or at least seeing people in giant Nyanmaru costumes - only this was a bit... different. After filling a second bowl for himself Yuuki started glancing at Tatsuma - who also seemed to be intentionally focused solely on food - from the corner of his eye. For a while, Yuuki's gaze lingered on his captivating eyes, but slowly they had traveled down a bit lower, and paused on his lips instead. The difference, was that rather than jumping onto him and hugging him, Yuuki had felt a strange and unfamiliar urge - he had wanted to jump Tatsuma and... kiss him? With a blush Yuuki quickly turned his eyes away from Tatsuma, and once again he tried to bury the feelings in his gut with food.

"_He must have been starving,"_ Tatsuma thought to himself idly as Yuuki went in for a third bowl. It was almost alarming how much and how fast the boy was eating, but it was quite likely that Yuuki was just at a point in life where his body needed that much food. _"I remember when I hit that age... I paused time every night and raided the kitchen at the orphanage,"_ he recalled fondly. In many ways Tatsuma missed his old home; it may not have been a perfect life, but there was never a shortage of companions to pal around with. For what felt like an eternity he had been alone - well, alone with a bunch of cats, but the only one who really stayed was Nyanmaru and it's not like he could sit down and hold a conversation... - but now, at least, he had Yuuki. _"Or at least, I will until I do something stupid like try to kiss him... idiot..." _Tatsuma scolded himself again as he downed the last of his noodles.

As for Yuuki, he had gotten himself a fourth bowl of delicious udon, and finally his eating pace had slowed; his urges had been successfully silenced for now, so for the last bowl he decided to take his time and enjoy it - and as good as Tatsuma's cooking was there was much enjoyment to be had. But without warning, another crack of thunder rolled, and the second after almost light in the room vanished - save for a pale reddish glow from the remaining embers of the fire. Yuuki had been so focused on his food that the sudden near-darkness made him jump, thus spilling the entire bowl on himself and drenching both the blanket, and the borrowed shirt.

Even with the unexpected lack of lighting, Tatsuma could easily recognize the sound of spilled noodles. "Are you alright?" he immediately asked.

"Yeah, but... I made a mess," Yuuki replied, shamefully. The dampness against his chest already told him that both the blanket and the shirt were soaked through, even if he could just barely make out the shadows.

"Don't worry about it," Tatsuma said with an unseen smile, "I'll take care of it as soon as I get some candles lit."

Before Yuuki could even respond the room was suddenly filled with a dim, flickering light of several candles that were spread about the room - it was almost as shocking as the sudden loss of light. He almost dreaded looking down at the mess he had caused, but still, he had to. Thick udon noodles were strung over his blanket-covered arm and piled up near the center of his chest, and the broth had already seeped deep into the fabric. At the sound of a footstep Yuuki looked up to see Tatsuma standing in front of him and eyeing the mess as well, but before Yuuki could even think to apologize he chuckled and carefully pulled the blanket off of him.

A slight blush rushed over Tatsuma's face as he realized that the shirt - the last shirt - was also drenched. Already Tatsuma had been rendered shirtless, and now Yuuki would also be left in such a predicament. Another embarrassing realization - there was only one blanket. "Er... i-it looks like I'll have to take the shirt as well, Y-yuuki-kun..." Tatsuma remarked.

It was an obvious remark, but it was just as obvious that it made Tatsuma nervous - even more nervous than Yuuki was. With his body turned and facing away Yuuki unbuttoned and removed the shirt, but with a small smile he turned his head back towards Tatsuma, with a shy utterance of, "Thanks."

Tatsuma's blush darkened at a rapid pace, and in his mind it all seemed to play in slow motion - or perhaps he had unconsciously slowed time - as Yuuki slipped the shirt off. His pale skin was beautiful in the flickering light, and the shadows played off of his smiling lips in such an alluring way. Tatsuma swallowed hard when he realized that he had been staring, and with his body tense he grabbed the shirt and turned around. _"Act normal, act normal, act normal!" _Tatsuma tried to reinforce, but still the moment he spoke his voice cracked, "N-no problem, Yuuki! I'll - er... I'll be right back!"

Yuuki quietly laughed to himself as Tatsuma practically ran out of the room - he never thought another boy would be so flustered about seeing him without a shirt. _"It's not like there's really much difference,"_ he thought humorously, until his thoughts took another left turn and with an unfamiliar interest his mind added, _"But he does have a nice muscle tone..." _

Tatsuma took in a deep, calming breath as he placed the broth-drenched blanket and shirt into the powerless washer - the pile of noodles already thrown into the trash as he had walked by. Why did that sight have to be so... arousing! Well, he already knew _**why**_, but it was no reason for him to keep losing his composure! ... was it? By leaning back he took a temporary seat on the washing machine, and raised his hand to cover his face and closed his eyes. Tatsuma could still feel the heat of the blush against his skin, and the instant his eyes closed his mind once again replayed the scene - Yuuki's body slowly being revealed, starting as the shirt slipped off of his shoulder and ending with him turning his head back with that small, almost taunting smile. _"No! Bad Tatsu!"_ Tatsuma internally yelled at himself as if talking to a misbehaving dog, _"What's __**wrong **__with me tonight..?" _Sure, it had been a long time since he had been with anyone, but this was getting ridiculous... Tatsuma had **never** had this much trouble dealing with feelings of attraction! Of course, in those cases it was often somewhere in public, or with someone he already knew was straight... and he never really had to deal with being alone with someone he felt attracted to... alone, like being at his home... at night... _"Still, that's no excuse! I need to control myself!" _Tatsuma told himself firmly, and mustered up his resolve. With a final steadying breath he took the second blanket out from the dryer - finding it still warm since the dryer had been left on up until the power went out - and returned to the living room.

Though the room was no longer cold, it was nowhere near as warm and comfortable as it had been under the blanket... and with a shirt. Yuuki's skin had prickled up against the cooler air, and by the time Tatsuma returned he had curled up on his seat of the couch, his legs folded up against his chest and his arms wrapped around them with a hot cup of tea in his hands, and with his chin resting on his knees he slowly sipped away at the drink. Despite the occasional clap of thunder it had been very peaceful - no more hunger pains, no more stinging cold, no more pelting rain, no more fear... - and he soon realized just how utterly exhausted his body was. Staying awake had turned challenging, and the clatter of his thoughts had faded away as his mind to grew tired. All he needed was a nice, warm blanket and he could get to sleep, a blanket that he almost didn't notice was being wrapped around him until the warmth set in. "Mm?" Yuuki said sleepily and looked up to see Tatsuma standing in front of him with an endearing smile, "Kagemaru..."

Carefully Tatsuma took the glass of tea from Yuuki's hand and set it down on the table. "You look like you're about to pass out, Yuuki-kun," he commented before yawning himself and adding, "Actually... I feel about the same... Why don't we call it a night?"

Yuuki responded with a partial nod as he sunk into the couch to get comfortable and closed his eyes, but a shuffling noise from the other side of the room caught his attention. "Hm..?" Yuuki sounded his confusion after watching Tatsuma stoke the fire in the fireplace, and then lie down on the floor in front of it with his back facing Yuuki.

With another yawn Tatsuma rolled over onto his back and turned his head towards the couch, at first confused himself over Yuuki's confusion but soon realizing what the cause must be. "Oh... the apartment doesn't have an actual bedroom... so I'll be sleeping on the floor," he explained, but then with a wary thought prodding the back of his mind he sat upright and added, "Is... that alright with you, Yuuki-kun?" Tatsuma had spent his entire life - up until now - sharing rooms with other people, but for all he knew this could seem completely absurd to his guest.

Sharply, Yuuki shook his head - of course it wasn't alright!

Tatsuma glanced down at the immediate response and stood up, with a dreadful feeling that he may well be sleeping in the kitchen, but the very instant he turned towards the open archway Yuuki halted him.

"Kagemaru..!" Yuuki had called out to catch his attention, but once doing so he shyly set his gaze to the floor, and partially hid his face with the blanket, "We can share the couch, can't we..? I don't want you to sleep on the floor..."

"Um... yeah, I guess... i-if you're okay with that," Tatsuma replied with a faint blush. He hadn't even considered that as an option before, but the concern and worry in Yuuki's voice was impossible to deny.

With a nod, Yuuki shifted on the couch to make more room, and even went so far as unraveling some of the blanket to share.

"You're sure this is okay?" Tatsuma asked, though probably struggling more with the question than Yuuki.

"I'm sure..." Yuuki replied plainly, and watched as Tatsuma sat down on the other end of the couch, but shortly after he found himself struggling not to laugh. Yuuki hadn't considered Tatsuma's height when he had made this suggestion, and rather than being able to fit easily instead Tatsuma's lanky body seemed to oddly contort as he desperately tried to curl up and keep all of his limbs on the couch - it almost seemed like the floor would have been more comfortable for him. "... Kagemaru," Yuuki stated to catch his attention once again.

Tatsuma put a hold on his incessant squirming and turned towards Yuuki. "Hm?" he responded, but his response was shortly followed by something of a yelp as Yuuki crawled - almost litterally crawled - across the couch and stretched out between him and the back of the couch. "Y-yuuki-kun?" Tatsuma stammered, feeling the warmth emanating from the younger male who was now lying down next to him with his eyes closed.

Yuuki didn't even bother to open his eyes again, and rather than responding he grabbed onto Tatsuma's arm and held it against his chest, as if daring him to try moving away.

The message was clear - but both confusing and extremely thrilling - and though he was now nervous to the point of shaking Tatsuma slowly stretched out on the couch and fixed the blanket with his remaining free arm. "A-are you s-" Tatsuma had started to ask again if Yuuki was okay with with this, but he was actually shushed by the younger boy. "... okay," Tatsuma replied, admitting defeat and allowing himself to get comfortable.

Yuuki's heart was pounding in his bare chest and all capability of speech had left him, but there was no way he would allow Tatsuma to be made so uncomfortable just for him. It wouldn't be right... even if this particular occurrence may not be right in most peoples' eyes, it was much better than making Tatsuma sleep on the floor or struggle to stay on the couch all night. _"Besides... this is really kind of... nice," _Yuuki thought sleepily to himself, and once Tatsuma grew still he snuggled more against him. "Good night, Tatsu-kun..." Yuuki said softly, just as he drifted to sleep.

"_T-tatsu-kun?" _Though his blush couldn't possibly get any darker it sure felt like it did, but as Tatsuma looked down at Yuuki the change in the boy's breathing told him that he was already sound asleep... "Good night, Yuu-kun..." Tatsuma whispered, though knowing that there would be no response, and eventually, he too fell asleep...

* * *

**A/N: Thank Rammstein! I managed to appease my inner evil by listening to hours of my favorite Rammstein songs! Bestrafe Mich, Ich Tu Dir Weh, Tier, Du Riechst So Gut, Spiel Mit Mir... For those of you who are unfamiliar, the song titles vary from "Punish Me" to "Play With Me" and the content ranges from sadomasochism to incest. SO, yeah! I was finally able to focus on cute and fluffy again without wanting to spew! Whoot!**

**...**

**I have so many issues... *goes off to ponder about self***


	6. Tears and Kisses!

**A/N: Right... so... been a while again, ne? Been busy with the family, had Internet and power problems due to icy weather, and for a while I was in something of a "blah" writing mood while trying to decide whether or not I should bump the content rating up to M which slowed my pace to one sentence every five to ten minutes - even though my sentences are generally pretty long, it was still horribly, horribly slow, and half the time I would instantly delete the sentence I had just typed... BUT, got some belated Xmas money, took my favorites of the family out for lunch, and now the blah mood has been replaced with that nice content feeling. Still struggling over the rating issue, but regardless it will eventually go up anyway... Tis all a matter of time.**

* * *

_The sun was shining brightly over a beautiful sandy beach, where faces both familiar and strange appeared to be on vacation: Hitomi, Heike, and Tatsuma, and two other people he had never met... and of course he was there himself. With a smile Tatsuma turned to him and beckoned him to come closer, but in many ways he seemed... different. His bright and hopeful eyes were darker, showing an extraordinary amount of pain and suffering behind his unaltered smile - they were the eyes of one who had seen more than their fair share of death... the eyes of a Code: Breaker. _

"_Number One..?" Yuuki spoke as he approached Tatsuma._

_In the blink of an eye Tatsuma moved from in front of him to behind him, and partially leaned down to wrap his arms around Yuuki's waist in a gentle embrace while everything around them turned to gray._

_Slowly Yuuki placed one of his hands over Tatsuma's arms and with his eyes closed leaned back against him, not at all startled by the sudden touch._

"_I could have sworn that you agreed to call me 'Tatsu-kun' when we're on vacation, Yuu-kun," Tatsuma whispered above his ear, "That's the whole point of setting this up, remember? While the rest of the world remains locked in time the Code: Breakers can slip away and have a normal life, if only for a little while... 01 is my Code, but for now we're all off the clock. So please, let's leave our nonexistent lives behind for now, alright?" _

"_Alright Number- ... Tatsu-kun," Yuuki replied, opening his eyes again and turning his head to face the other with a small smile._

"_Much better," Tatsuma said softly while gradually moving in closer, and closer still until their lips finally met in a tender kiss._

Yuuki was abruptly awakened by a loud crash of thunder, and for just a moment he forgot where he was. The dream was so real, and everything seemed so... natural. But why was Tatsuma there with the Code: Breakers? And more importantly, why did Yuuki call him 'Number One' when Hitomi was there as well..? _"Wait... at the end did... did Tatsuma really..." _Yuuki moved his fingertips to his lips and shook his head. There was no way that Tatsuma had kissed him, and even if he had it was only a dream, right..? _"But it felt like... a memory,"_ Yuuki thought deeply, and tried to sit up only to find himself pinned. A faint blush struck his cheeks when he realized why he was unable to move; before going to sleep he had refused to let go of Tatsuma's arm, and though Tatsuma had been lying down beside him when he had gone to sleep it appeared that sometime during the night the other male had rolled over. In his sleep-induced haze Yuuki hadn't realized that his face was barely a hair's width from touching Tatsuma's naked chest, and the force holding him down was Tatsuma's other arm that was now wrapped around Yuuki's equally naked waist. His breath quickened, and with each inhale Yuuki could feel his chest brush across Tatsuma's stomach. How long had they been so close?

"Mm-mmn-kun, be still..." Tatsuma mumbled unintelligibly, and nuzzled against Yuuki's hair.

Yuuki froze as he felt the contact, and only once the other grew still did he slowly tilt his head up, accidently brushing his nose against Tatsuma's. His blush darkened, but to his relief Tatsuma was still fast asleep. Carefully Yuuki moved his head back a bit, just enough to get a better look at the other male. His eyes were closed, and shrouded by his shoulder-length bronze colored bangs which usually framed his face, and though his lips were somewhat parted he actually seemed to be contently smiling in his sleep, as if he was perfectly at peace. It was the opposite of how his dream had portrayed him: confident and strong, but weary, as if he was trying to hold the weight of the world on his shoulders behind that gentle smile, and the way that he had so smoothly leaned in to kiss him... _"Tatsu-kun," _Yuuki's thoughts repeated, from both his dream, and from earlier that night before he had gone to sleep, _"It must be a coincidence... Kagemaru isn't a Code: Breaker." _With a quiet yawn Yuuki decided to disregard his dream, but his heart went against his decision. He couldn't let go of that kiss, nor could he stop himself from wondering what would have happened if the storm hadn't woken him up. Would Yuuki have kissed him back as if it was something normal for them? Or would it have surprised him? Would he have rejected the kiss? Or what if it would have led to something... more? _"Why does a dream even matter this much to me? Unless... I really do like the thought of us kissing..." _Yuuki thought deeply. Already Yuuki had been feeling the occasional sudden urge to try something like that, but he had continuously ignored it. But the dream... it wasn't something he could just shrug off - it felt so real, and he **wanted** to know what would have happened next. _"Maybe... I could test it?" _Yuuki considered, with his bright lavender eyes set on Tatsuma's lips, but once again a blush hit his cheeks, and he turned his head away. He couldn't just steal a kiss from someone while they were sleeping... could he? Slowly Yuuki turned his head back, and lightly reached out to run his fingertips across Tatsuma's bottom lip. The pinkish flesh was soft, and he could feel Tatsuma's warm breath blow over his hand as he exhaled. He didn't stir, or show any other signs of being disturbed. _"Maybe one, a small one, just to see if I like it or not..."_ Yuuki thought uneasily and moved a little closer, triggering Tatsuma to wrap his arm tighter around him and nuzzle against his forehead. Yuuki's heart started racing, but as calmly as he could he tilted his head up, and with his eyes closed he slowly pressed his lips to Tatsuma's.

Though sleeping soundly Tatsuma could feel the pressure against his mouth, and instinctively he kissed back, deeply, while raising his hand to caress the kisser's cheek.

Yuuki hadn't really expected that Tatsuma would kiss him back, and he definitely hadn't expected that he would be kissed back so well. Startled, Yuuki jumped, causing a distinctive 'smack' to sound as their lips parted.

Tatsuma's eyes fluttered open, only to see a very flustered Yuuki mere inches away. "Mm, Yuuki-kun..?" Tatsuma stated in a haze and sat up, and - without noticing just how close his hand already was - raised the back side of his hand to Yuuki's forehead to gauge his temperature, "You're so warm... Are you feeling okay?"

"B-bathroom!" Yuuki responded in a panicked tone, and with a single catlike leap he jumped over both Tatsuma and the table, and dashed into the other room.

It was like watching a blur as Tatsuma's eyes tried to follow Yuuki's movements, and he was soon filled with worry, _"I hope he isn't sick..." _With a quiet yawn Tatsuma rose from the couch, and headed straight into the kitchen to the pantry. _"Chamomile, chamomile..." _his thoughts repeated as he searched through an assortment of herbal teas, _"Ah, there they are." _With a single packet in hand Tatsuma ventured back into the main part of the kitchen, and quickly got to work preparing the drink.

Now locked in the bathroom Yuuki leaned back against the door, and slowly slid down to the floor. He couldn't believe what he had just done. Not only did he just kiss someone - a **male** someone - that he had just recently met, he had stolen it, and the kiss was not-so-intentionally returned. _"For all I know Kagemaru may already be with someone..." _Yuuki realized with dread. The way Tatsuma returned the kiss certainly showed that he's probably had some experience in the past - or perhaps even recently... like the night before... An unfamiliar pain clutched Yuuki's heart at the thought of Tatsuma already being claimed, and he slowly brought his knees up to his chest. _"I wonder if he knows what I did..? Or if he was still asleep when he kissed me back..." _A feeling of dread flooded the pit of his stomach. What if Tatsuma did realize what happened? And worse, what if he was mad about it? The last thing he wanted was to be thrown out, or to be yelled at by someone again. _"What was I even thinking - I should have known better! It was wrong... even if I liked it..." _Yuuki internally despaired, and hugged his knees tightly while hiding his face behind them as tears started to form, _"They were right... all I do is mess things up... I keep making mistakes and it's all my fault..." _Already he had made a wreck of things at home with his selfish, childish behavior, and now it seemed he had done it yet again...

It was quiet. A little **too** quiet... Already Tatsuma had finished preparing two fresh cups of chamomile tea and drank his own glass, then he had gone around to re-light some of the candles and once again rekindle the fire, and all was done without the use of his time-altering abilities. With his back now to the floor Tatsuma stared at the ceiling, still stricken with worry and finding the unending silence more and more bothersome. One minute... five minutes... ten minutes... Fifteen whole minutes without a sound? It became too much for him to take, and finally Tatsuma decided to rise. Quietly Tatsuma crept over to the bathroom door, and nervously tapped on the door, "Yuuki-kun?"

With the sudden noise Yuuki jumped, and accidently banged his head back against the door with a painful crack. "I-I'll be out in a second," he responded as firmly as he could manage, trying to cover the pain in his head, and his heart.

Tatsuma cocked his head to the side at the abnormality of the cracking noise - it was set low, and obviously it was the result of something hitting the other side of the door - but after hearing Yuuki's response he felt a bit of relief. "Take your time," Tatsuma replied gently, and stepped back to his place on the floor. _"Was he... sitting by the door?" _he thought idly to himself. It sure sounded like he might have been, but the question was why? _"Maybe he wasn't sick after all... but then, what's going on?"_

Finally, after a few more minutes passed, Yuuki unlocked the bathroom door and walked out, his eyes downcast and his arms crossed over his chest as if he was hugging himself. He still felt horrible, but it wasn't like he could hide in Tatsuma's bathroom forever...

The moment Tatsuma saw Yuuki's shadowed figure he sprung up, at first unsure if he was even seeing things correctly. Yuuki had the look of a beaten child, and Tatsuma's immediate instinct was to go to him. Crouching down enough to better match Yuuki's height Tatsuma pulled him into a tight but gentle embrace, "Yuuki-kun, what's wrong? You look terrified..."

"S-sorry..."

"Sorry?" Tatsuma repeated in confusion, and pulled back from the hug to get a better look at Yuuki's face only to find it shrouded by dampened clumps of red hair, "Yuuki-kun you have nothing to apologize for." Slowly Tatsuma raised his hand to Yuuki's cheek, and wiped away the residual traces of moisture that confirmed Tatsuma's fear that he may have been crying.

The tender touch set off a strange and powerful surge of emotion, and though Yuuki had thought that his tears were done another managed to trickle down his face, stopping once it came in contact with Tatsuma's warm, gentle hand. Yuuki didn't move, torn between a want to run, a need to stay, and a powerful desire to be even closer.

"Hey... look at me," Tatsuma whispered softly, and lifted Yuuki's chin so he could look into his eyes. He met no resistance, and with a subtle smile Tatsuma leaned up to plant a kiss on Yuuki's forehead. "It's okay, Yuuki-kun," Tatsuma said soothingly, and lowered back down to meet Yuuki's eyes again, "Whatever you may be going through I promise I'm here for you, alright..? You don't have to tell me what's wrong if you don't want to, but I don't want you to run off and cry all alone..."

With a blush Yuuki nodded, and shortly after he felt Tatsuma's embrace once again. _"Kagemaru..." _Slowly, almost shakily, Yuuki unfolded his arms, and wrapped them loosely around Tatsuma's neck. It was a little odd, being held in such a way, but it was also comforting - even if it managed to pull a few more tears...

After a few moments Tatsuma pulled back from their shared hug, "Mm, I almost forgot... I made some more tea. It's chamomile, so it should help you relax a bit more, Yuuki-kun." Gently Tatsuma moved the tear-coated strands of hair from Yuuki's face, and set his hands on the other's shoulders. "Care to join me back on the couch?"

Yuuki answered with a subtle nod, and followed after Tatsuma as he walked back to the couch. Before Yuuki even sat down the blanket was wrapped back around his shoulders, and once he took a seat he was gently pulled onto Tatsuma's lap and handed a small cup of tea. "Kagemaru?" he called out quietly, blushing as Tatsuma wrapped his arms around Yuuki's waist and rested his head on the boy's shoulder.

With a sleepy yawn Tatsuma raised his head and noticed the red tint to Yuuki's cheeks, and quickly he moved his arms away. He could barely remember making it to the couch, let alone putting Yuuki on his lap and snuggling him. "S-sorry," Tatsuma stammered nervously, "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable..."

"It's not that. It's just... not something I'm used to," Yuuki replied, and took a small sip of tea. For Yuuki, it was the opposite of being an uncomfortable situation, and even better it had put his worries to rest - or at least, his worries of the present...

Tatsuma smiled, and though he kept his arms to himself he gently rested his chin back on Yuuki's shoulder. "Sorry," Tatsuma repeated, his content tone withholding any sign of regret, "I guess it became something of a habit after growing up in an orphanage... I see tears and immediately I respond with hugs and affection."

"It's fine," Yuuki yawned quietly, finishing his cup of tea and already feeling the effects of the soothing chamomile, "I like it..."

A slight smirk pulled at Tatsuma's lips as he took the empty cup from Yuuki's hands and placed it down onto the table. "I'm glad," he said softly, and with another sleepy yawn stretched his arms and back, "Ready to go back to bed, Yuuki-kun?"

"Mm," Yuuki nodded in response, and unwrapped the blanket to share.

With his arms set loosely around Yuuki's waist Tatsuma plopped down onto the couch, pulling Yuuki down with him and fixing the blanket around them both. "Oh, and Yuuki-kun?" Tatsuma said suddenly, and waited for Yuuki to turn and face him before continuing, "Promise me that you won't hide your tears next time, alright?"

"Promise?" Yuuki repeated, blinking a few times in confusion as to why this would be such a serious matter.

"Promise," Tatsuma replied, his tone gentle but firm as he locked his eyes on Yuuki's, "I don't care if I'm busy or even asleep. Promise that you won't cry alone."

A blush hit Yuuki's cheeks as he looked into Tatsuma's concerned gaze, and slowly he nodded, "I promise, Kagemaru."

Leaning up a bit, Tatsuma kissed Yuuki's forehead for the second time, and smiled as he lied back down. "Thank you, Yuuki-kun," he said with a smile, wrapping one of his arms over Yuuki's smaller form and pulling him closer, "Now let's get some rest, hm?"

A small squeak hitched in Yuuki's throat as their skin touched, every breath pressing their torsos even closer together. Yuuki didn't reply, and silently moved one of his hands to Tatsuma's shoulder while keeping his arm held against his chest. With a darkened blush Yuuki moved in closer, nestling his head in the curve of Tatsuma's neck and closing his eyes.

It was the most comfortable either had ever felt, and within seconds of finding comfort the two fell back into a deep sleep, resting peacefully in each others' arms...

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**A/N: There IS NO After Note. *dramatic music***


	7. Morning!

**A/N: FINALLY the first night is over! Took me six whole chapters for that itty bitty space in time... There's no telling how long it'll take me to finish off the first actual day! So much to go over... **

**And yet again it seems I've had a much-longer-than-intended delay in the latest chapter. I'll be perfectly honest - I've been distracted by video games, hindered by writers' block, and stricken with illness... which is probably the cause of writers' block. Tisn't easy to think with a throbbing headache, nor is it easy to type with incessant coughing fits...**

* * *

Tatsuma awoke to bright, shining lights filling the room. The storm had passed, allowing rays of morning sunshine to fall through the windows, and sometime through the night the power had been restored and switched the lights back on. It was a drastic change from the hazy darkness of sleep, and with a quiet, disgruntled groan Tatsuma's eyes squeezed shut. _"How late did I sleep in..?" _he wondered. Usually Tatsuma was up well before the crack of dawn and was greeted with darkness, but it had been a long night... long, but good. As his senses awakened Tatsuma smiled; he could feel Yuuki's warm body still snuggled against him, and hear his soft, subtle breathing as he slept. Gradually Tatsuma opened his eyes again, blinking a few times against the light as they adjusted. As his vision came into focus he was met with a beautiful sight; just in front of him and perfectly in view was Yuuki, his eyes gently closed as he peacefully slept, a few wild strands of hair gone astray and brushing over his face, and his lips just barely parted and twitching slightly as he dreamed. Surely, Tatsuma felt, nothing else in all the world could be this perfect... But he shook those feelings away. He had only known Yuuki for one night, and he shouldn't indulge in such romantic feelings towards someone he just met - no matter how strong those feelings may be. _"But I..." _

But you what? _**Love**_ him? What a foolish notion.

Tatsuma sighed inwardly as the 'voice of reason' rang through his mind. Maybe he was being foolish after all... Carefully Tatsuma unwrapped himself from Yuuki and rose from the couch, and moved the blanket around Yuuki to keep him warm. Still, Yuuki shifted in his sleep, his arms stretching out as if searching for something - or rather, someone - and he quietly whimpered. Tatsuma stifled a laugh, and with a smile he placed a hand on one of Yuuki's; it was simply adorable, the way Yuuki had responded to his absence. "I won't go far," Tatsuma said softly, hoping to get through to Yuuki without waking him. As if responding, Yuuki drew his arms in and nestled deeper into the blanket, but the look on his face still held a bit of loneliness. It was strange, the way Tatsuma felt as he watched him; he was happy, content... as if nothing else in the world mattered. _"Maybe it is foolish," _Tatsuma thought to himself as he moved his hand to gently caress Yuuki's cheek, _"But I don't care..." _Slowly Tatsuma leaned down, and pressed his lips to Yuuki's forehead. He was happy, and in the end wasn't that the whole purpose of love? Even if they never were to become more than friends, for Tatsuma this here was enough - more than enough! He could pause time and stay in that moment forever... Well, alright not forever - that would get a bit weird and possibly very creepy. Besides, there was still so much he needed to do... Feed Nyanmaru, clean clothes - both his own and Yuuki's, - wash dishes, take out the trash, pay the rent, check the mail, and of course he needed to tend to his own hygienic needs...

While Tatsuma quietly went about his morning to-do list Yuuki remained in a deep sleep, but the absence of the warm body that was once entangled with his own had turned his peaceful dreaming into a fitful nightmare...

_He was there again, on that same beautiful beach... With a small, content smile Yuuki was sitting on the sandy shore and watching the sun set over the horizon, and sitting just behind him, with his arms looped around Yuuki's waist and his chin gently resting on Yuuki's slender shoulder, was Tatsuma. There was no one else around for miles it seemed, save the flock of seagulls that swarmed over the distant depths of the sea. _

_With a subtle, adorable mewl of a yawn Yuuki leaned back against Tatsuma's exposed chest, and stared up at him with the most innocent expression he could muster. He was trying to be cute, with every intention to do whatever it took to succeed._

_Despite the smile that Tatsuma could do nothing to stop, he looked down at Yuuki suspiciously. "Alright, Yuu-kun, I know you're acting cute for a reason. What do you want?"_

_While maintaining the look of innocence Yuuki pulled away, enabling himself to turn and face Tatsuma as he pouted. "I already have what I want, Tatsu-kun," he replied, his expression unfaltering, "I have you."_

_Tatsuma chuckled softly, knowing that this was Yuuki's way of seeking attention."You will always have me," he spoke in a near-whisper, his tone marking it as a secret promise. _

_Yuuki smiled, brightly, and crouched down momentarily before quickly springing forward and landing on Tatsuma, pouncing him._

_The force was nowhere near enough to truly knock Tatsuma back - after all he was much taller, and after years of eliminating evil he was pretty well built - but still he fell backwards, and allowed Yuuki to pin him to the sandy ground. _

_Laughing, practically giggling, Yuuki nuzzled against the curve of Tatsuma's neck, pushing his head out of the way with his nose to make more room for himself. _

_But then, so sudden that it seemed impossible, everything changed...He was now alone in intense darkness, holding himself up on his hands and knees as everything vanished - even Tatsuma. _

_Panic was his first reaction and frantically Yuuki looked around, but all he could see was the endless black... "Tatsuma!" Yuuki cried out, but as his voice rang it surrounded him in bright red sound waves. Faster and faster the rings pulsated around him, shrieking with a painful sound as they formed a spherical field that bathed Yuuki in a foreboding red glow. Tears filled Yuuki's eyes as the rings came in closer at a rapid rate, and as the first visible wave of sound cut into his skin and drew blood Yuuki knew what this was - Code: End._

"_Yuuki..!"_

_Though the voice was drowned out and distorted by the sound waves' high pitched call, Yuuki could easily identify who it was._

_Tearing through the darkness Tatsuma appeared, the ominous red glow highlighting his form while leaving dark, encompassing shadows to surround him. Determination was set in his eyes, and it seemed that all source of fear was thrown aside._

"_N-no, don't!" Yuuki begged as the sound waves tore deeper and deeper into his own skin, "Tatsuma, you'll die!"_

_But Tatsuma ignored him, and without hesitation he charged straight in to the pulsating rings. It didn't matter how many gashes he received in the process - his mind was already made up. Within the field of sound it was like standing in a room full of chalkboards with a thousand nails scraping down them, but it seemed that Tatsuma had no interest in exchanging words... The moment he made it through Tatsuma wrapped his bleeding arms around Yuuki, holding him as close as he possibly could, and passionately - almost roughly - he pressed their lips together. Then, as quickly as he had charged in, Tatsuma retreated, taking another round of lashing as the waves as sound drew in ever closer. _

_It had all happened within just a few seconds, but the kiss felt as though it had lasted a lifetime... As the glowing red waves enclosed more around him, painfully ripping through his flesh, Yuuki was overcome with intense sadness... It was to be their last kiss... their final touch... and now, Yuuki would die alone... In an instant the world flashed to gray, and then-_

With his heart racing Yuuki shot upright, panting as he looked around with wide eyes. _"A-another dream?" _he soon realized, and with a hand clutching his throbbing chest he tried to calm himself. _"It's alright. I'm okay. Everything is fine..." _Yuuki reinforced his thoughts, trying to convince his body to calm down. Slowly his breathing settled and his heart steadied, but it was short-lived. Something was missing... something important was out of place... someone was gone... "Kagemaru!" Panic once again set in as Yuuki scanned the room for any trace of Tatsuma's presence - a glimpse, a sound, anything! But there was nothing... Quickly Yuuki sprung to his feet and made a dash towards the kitchen. The room seemed to take up half the size of the entire apartment, but at the moment it was completely devoid of life. In under a second Yuuki had turned around and hurried off, jumping over the table and going straight to the bathroom door. It had been left half-open, and just like the kitchen it was empty. He was gone. It was as if Tatsuma had just disappeared off the face of the Earth. Tears welled in Yuuki's eyes, threatening to break into streams at any given moment. Slowly Yuuki backed away from the door, until he found himself near the center of the main room. What could have happened..? Did he lose control of his abilities in his sleep and scare Tatsuma away? It wouldn't be the first time, but still it hadn't happened in several years. Yuuki's shoulders started to shake, but before the feelings of fear and sadness could overtake him a small 'click' caught his attention.

With a small stack of paper in hand Tatsuma opened the front door, but halted just outside when he caught Yuuki in his sights. The very next thing Tatsuma saw was the sky, and a sharp pain hit his backside as it collided with the ground a few feet away from the steps. For just a moment he was dazed, but as his senses came back into focus he could feel an additional weight set over his stomach. Though he winced in pain Tatsuma craned his head up for a better look and found that the source of the weight happened to be Yuuki, who was straddled over Tatsuma's stomach with his face pressed against his bare chest and his arms tightly clinging to his shoulders. "Yuuki-kun..?" Tatsuma said gently as he loosely wrapped his arms around the smaller male's shoulders, "Hey, what's wrong?"

Yuuki had never expected that his pounce would send Tatsuma to the ground - not that he was complaining. He was almost shaking as he tightened his grip on Tatsuma's shoulders, and with unshed tears still gleaming in his eyes he looked up at him. "You weren't there anymore, Tatsu-kun," Yuuki replied, his voice on the verge of cracking as he came ever closer to crying, "I thought you were gone forever." His words barely seemed rational, even to Yuuki himself, but something about that dream just made him feel... strange... as if he had been separated from Tatsuma for years. _"But I... I just met him last night, right..? So why should I feel this way..? They were dreams, that's all..."_

"So this is what you meant by 'a different kind of stray,' Tatsuma-chan."

Yuuki leapt back as he heard the other voice - a female voice - and landed in a crouching position at the doorway several feet away. From the distance he analyzed the source of the voice: a woman around the late 20's with long, wavy brown hair and matching eyes. In light of the current situation she was laughing, with a bright smile on her red-painted lips. But the most notable thing about her was that she was quite obviously pregnant.

With a heavy, pained breath Tatsuma sat up, but with a gentle smile he held his hand out towards Yuuki, beckoning him to come closer. "I didn't mean to step out for so long, Yuuki-kun," Tatsuma said apologetically, "I'm sorry I made you worry."

Without bothering to rise Yuuki moved closer, essentially crawling back to Tatsuma but in a manner that seemed inhumanly natural to him. Once he was close enough he practically fell onto Tatsuma's lap, wrapping his arms around him in a loose hug and hiding his face against Tatsuma's chest. "You don't have to apologize, Kagemaru..." Yuuki mumbled. Right now he was just happy that Tatsuma was still there.

Tatsuma smiled and placed one of his hands on the top of Yuuki's head, ruffling his hair fondly for a moment before lifting Yuuki's chin to catch his attention. "Yuuki-kun, I want you to meet Kana-chan. She's the manager of the apartment complex."

Slowly Yuuki raised himself a little higher to peek over Tatsuma's shoulder, and after catching the giggling woman's gaze he said plainly, "Hello."

"_Hello?"_ Tatsuma repeated in his thoughts, _"Just like that..?"_ It had taken a while for Yuuki to be the least bit comfortable around Tatsuma, and yet here he was now, greeting someone else without showing any sign of being nervous or scared. Though there is a big difference in being introduced to someone and having a complete stranger approach you in the middle of a storm in the dead of night when you're all alone...

"Hi there!" the woman chirped, giggling as she waved down at him, "I heard that Tatsuma-chan plans to keep you for a little while, right? I was going to stop by to meet you and give you the groundrules of the house but now that I've gotten a look at you I don't think that'll be necessary." Her attention quickly turned to Tatsuma, and with a wink she spoke again, "You were right when you said he was a cute one, Tatsuma-chan! Just be sure you take good care of him, got it?" She didn't wait for a response, and with a final wave and a quick "Goodbye," she turned around and ambled off.

"_I can't believe she said that and just walked off!" _Tatsuma thought, blushing darkly about being exposed. It was true of course; he did mention that Yuuki was cute... but he wasn't expecting that Kana would call him out on it like that. Now she had left the two alone, with Yuuki still perched on Tatsuma's lap. _"Maybe he didn't notice..?"_

"Kagemaru."

Tatsuma slightly jumped when Yuuki called his name so abruptly - or at least, his new nickname. "Y-yeah?" he replied, and with a residual blush still tinting his cheeks he set his attention down to Yuuki.

Yuuki smiled as their eyes met and moved in closer, resting his head on Tatsuma's shoulder as he closed his arms back around him in a gentle, almost clinging embrace. "Good morning."

Tatsuma chuckled at the simple greeting, and with a content smile he returned the embrace. "Good afternoon," he said with a smile.

* * *

**A/N: There we go, got something done! Bit of an odd spot to stop, I know, but I felt that the rest would go better with the next chapter. Gotta long day to write out... **


End file.
